Today's interview is with the amazingly former art director of Dumbo Feather magazine and talented illustrator David Michael. He recently returned to Australia soil from a sabbatical in the Himalayas!
Tell us a bit about yourself and the beginnings of your creative career.
As a boy I remember using paper to make three-dimensional weapons such as handguns and rifles but Mum put a stop to that pretty quickly. I don't know why she did that… they didn't even work! Fast-forward 15 years and I was studying Visual Communication at Monash University. I've always had a knack for seeing the problems in things and then trying to change them to make them work better.
You worked for Dumbo Feather, cool! Please tell us more
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I worked as the art director / graphic designer at Dumbo Feather for two years. I worked on a huge range of projects from the quarterly publication through to a bespoke iPad app. I loved working with a fun, motivated, young and inspiring team who always had a 'can-do' attitude. We always worked at 110%, which created an amazing working energy. I moved on from there to spend some soul-time in the Himalayas.
So you’re back in Melbourne-town looking for a job! What type of work would you love to be doing and where?
Now that I'm back in Melbourne, finding an amazing team of people to get creative with is my priority. I love working on projects that make the world a brighter, happier place and I love a no-limits approach to brainstorming and designing. I love running drawing workshops for my friends and I’ve also been finding the time to work on some small film projects.
What are you most passionate about atm?
I have an addiction to illustration and have been known to not look up from my desk for hours on end. Illustration is my artistic expression and I just can't get my hands on enough Copic markers. Drawing, drawing, drawing. I'm trying to produce one still-life drawing per day this month, but balancing that with my usual drawing practice, freelance work, and a non-sugar diet has its challenges. I'm using an airbrush to paint a mural in the studio too, so I'm getting stuck into that when I'm alone because I think the inks might be poisonous and I don't want to kill anyone.
